PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city's schools have long been underfunded. Now she's calling on the state to fix the problem.

“We have waited too long. We have done our part. Now we look to Harrisburg to ensure our students have the future they deserve,” Parker said.

The mayor was surrounded by an unusual coalition of education stakeholders, many of whom are often at odds with one another. Yet public and private school leaders, state legislators, union leaders, advocates and more came together to call on state lawmakers to push an education funding plan led by the state House of Representatives through the finish line.

“The groups gathered here today have resolved their differences for the good of our students and the good of our city,” Parker said at City Hall on Tuesday.

The House plan, which passed Monday night by a vote of 107 to 94, arose from a 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling that The state education funding system is unconstitutional.

The bill would provide $5.1 billion in additional state funding to schools across the state over seven years. Philadelphia public schools would receive $1.4 billion in additional funding during that period and $242 million in the coming school year.

Tony Watlington, superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, said the money is “significant” and will help the district fund a variety of areas.

“It will help us hire more teachers and invest in their training and development. We can improve our facilities. And we can ensure that we can invest more resources in our young people and their social and emotional learning,” Watlington said.

But the House plan is far from a guarantee. Only five Republicans in the House voted for the ambitious bill on Monday, raising questions about whether it will survive in the Republican-dominated state Senate.

“It's too early to say,” said Republican Senator Dave Argall, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Argall says there is broad and bipartisan support for more education and his committee will review the bill when it is introduced in the Senate, but he notes that the plan quickly passed the House.

“It passed the House without much discussion or bipartisan cooperation,” Argall said. “We'll look at it. I believe more needs to be done. The key question is: How much more?”

One of his problems was committing money years in advance.

“The fear is that no matter what the legislature says today about the next five, six or seven years, we cannot legally compel future general assemblies to do it,” said Argall, who represents parts of Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties.

Argall noted that he's hearing the same demands from parents and educators in his area: that the state needs to do more to better fund schools. But the senator says that will likely mean Republicans and Democrats coming to the negotiating table to hammer out a deal.

“Somehow our Republicans and Democrats have to find a way to reach an agreement here,” Argall said.

In Philadelphia, coalition members say state lawmakers should take their measures to heart.

“We are all working together in Philadelphia. Let's set an example of what we think Harrisburg should do,” said Dawn Chavious, a spokeswoman for the African American Charter School Coalition.

Argall said talks on education funding have already begun in the Senate. The deadline for passing the state budget is July 1.